Industry Relations
The USC School of Pharmacy provides a unique environment for developing and commercializing technology. The only private pharmacy school located on a major health sciences campus, the School is entrepreneurial, small and nimble, with access to experts from related disciplines throughout the university and beyond.
The School maintains the capacity, expertise, infrastructure and drive needed to foster mutually beneficial collaborations with our industry partners. The USC School of Pharmacy and our research faculty have proven track records and tangible results working with established and startup biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies of all sizes, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Benefit Design Institute and Columbia Laboratories Inc.
Without the restrictions of a state institution, the USC School of Pharmacy can extend support to companies far beyond serving as a contract research organization. Our faculty can offer high-end feedback to help design a research protocol to meet your specific goals and take your efforts to an even high level of success. Each agreement is designed to fit the needs of our partner and to encourage the translation of research into marketable products.
We also draw from a wealth of university-wide resources to support our industry partners—from the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation to the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering.
To shepherd industry partners through the collaboration process and to ensure your objectives are met, the School of Pharmacy maintains a dedicated research office staffed by those with their own extensive background in laboratory research. Contact research@pharmacy.usc.edu to learn more.
“Many of the great breakthroughs in the life sciences occur at the nexus of academic and industry partnership. The USC School of Pharmacy’s entrepreneurial nature and breadth of intellectual and physical resources make this an ideal place for external collaboration and innovation.”
Sarah Hamm-Alvarez
Associate Dean for Research Affairs
Research highlights
USC has the 5th fastest super computer cluster in the U.S., and Nouri Neamati is using it to advance his cancer and HIV/AIDS research.
The School unites an interdisciplinary team of pharmacologists, toxicologists and pharmaceutical and regulatory scientists to explore new directions in identifying, designing and targeting new therapeutic advances. Complementing this are researchers working in the clinical arena and in health economics and policy. Centers and institutes, based at the School and throughout the University, offer a structure for collaborative pursuits.
Alcohol abuse and dependence affects more than 17 million Americans and costs nearly $200 billion annually. The USC School of Pharmacy is at the forefront of efforts to understand the neurochemical basis of brain function and behavior that is crucial to the development of new approaches to prevent and treat alcoholism, drug abuse and psychological disorders.
How do you increase patient access to medication while reducing costs?
Patients who need prescriptions, such as statins for moderate risk of coronary heart disease, have improved access and increased utilization rates when those drugs are moved to behind-the-counter status with a pharmacist to provide counseling and medication management.
A national expert in improving health outcomes while reducing cost, Dr. Chen is one of the School’s leading faculty serving in 12 safety-net clinics, providing medication therapy management for low-income patients with chronic conditions.
Is there a connection between menopause and the development of Alzheimer’s disease?
Two-thirds of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s are women, and Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, has found a key link between brain health at menopause and the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease onset 20 years later.
